


Grief, not greed.

by loki_of_jotunheim



Category: Leverage
Genre: Episode: s05e12 The White Rabbit Job, Fix It, Other, fixing the white rabbit job
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:26:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25862791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loki_of_jotunheim/pseuds/loki_of_jotunheim
Summary: Nate treads increasingly close to playing God sometimes. Sometimes, the team has to say no. This is one of those times.Or: The team says no to running the White Rabbit.(Plot and idea is 100% Server Dad's in the Leverage discord.)
Relationships: Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer, Leverage OT3 - Relationship
Comments: 15
Kudos: 75





	Grief, not greed.

**Author's Note:**

> We were talking about how a few of us don't like the White Rabbit Job and Server Dad said: "It just feels like a con the rest of the team should have immediately told Nate “No, that’s going too far, why don’t we just hire him a good therapist and convince him to let the therapist help; in the meantime, we can just buy the company and give it to the employees until their boss gets better."" I agreed and I kind of had to write it. So here's the result. Hopefully it's alright.

“What do you want us to do?” Nate, sitting opposite their current client, asked the man. Eliot’s stomach sank at the answer. Nate wouldn’t be able to resist. 

“I want you to fix him.” Lidell said earnestly. “I want you to make Charles the way he used to be. Can you do that, Mr. Ford? 

“Yes.” Nate said. The client left a few moments later.

“We can’t do that.” Eliot said quietly to Nate. There was no response. 

“We are running the White Rabbit.” Nate announced to the room. Hardison almost lost it right there and then. 

“The white….what?” He protested. “No, Nate. That’s not what we do.” 

“That’s what I said.” Eliot joined them at the table, setting down some snacks. “All right, listen. We wreck the bad guys. We don’t turn one kind of guy into another kind of guy.” 

“Wait, what is the White Rabbit?” Parker, sitting between Hardison and Eliot, asked. 

“It’s the….” Hardison changed course. “It’s where you...get inside their head. Their dreams. And you manipulate that. It’s impossible, but it’s also so far from what we do it’s not even funny.” 

“It’s possible,” Sophie interjected quietly. Hardison couldn’t tell if she had a problem with it or not. Regardless, the answer seems to bolster Nate.

“It’s like what that psychic did?” Parker asks quietly in the resulting silence. “To me?” 

“Not...exactly.” Hardison says. “He didn’t have the intent of changing someone. He just wanted to use what he could find to string them along. This...this is meant to change someone, twist their beliefs and lives into something else.” 

Eliot, who had been looking through the case files, spoke up. 

“Does this remind anyone else of the dude with the chip? The carnival job?” He gestures as the screen.

“This isn’t greed...this is grief.” Sophie echoed. “But there’s nothing that would suggest that so far.” 

“Nothing we’ve found  _ yet _ , anyway.” Hardison says. “Let me do some more digging, see what I can find.” 

“Alright,” Nate said, clearly unhappy with the resistance he’d gotten to this. “But if you can’t find anything, we’re running it.” 

The team reconvened a few days later. Hardison pushed down the vindictive satisfaction at what he’d found. It wouldn’t help convince Nate of anything. 

“I found something.” Hardison started off. “Dodgson’s cousin, Patience - I found her obituary. She died in a crash - a really bad one. She’d spent a week partying before in Aspen. And less than a week later, we get the start of...everything now.” Hardison finished. “Dodgson’s also been attending therapy every week, starting close to then as well - for panic attacks. I think the two are related.” 

“So we run this like we ran the Carnival job - only we’re trying to steal his past self instead of the chip,” Nate said. 

“It’s more like the high school reunion job.” Sophie corrected. 

“So how do we do this?” Eliot said. 

“This is gonna sound crazy but hear me out.” Hardison said. “We could take over the company? Get this guy into intensive therapy? I mean...based on the notes I found it does seem to be helping.” 

“Can I - thanks.” Sophie took the notes from Hardison. “That’s not half a bad plan, actually.” She said slowly. “It’d take a little bit longer than our normal jobs, but…” She shrugged. “We could make it work.” 

“Who’d run the company?” Nate interjected. “Us?” 

“We did the efficiency team...thing a while back.” Eliot pointed out. “With a weird documentary crew watching us. This is a piece of cake in comparison.” 

“I can look around and see why the crash might have affected him so much.” Parker offered. “I mean, that  _ would  _ make it easier if we’re there legitimately.” 

Nate didn’t reply for a minute. Everyone else waited. 

“Alright.” He finally said. “We’re not running the White Rabbit - for now. But if this doesn’t work, we’re doing it.” 

“I came down here to terminate Dr. Polito,” Dodgson said to Sophie, later. She was posing (for the moment) as the replacement therapist. “My family - we don’t really do..this.” 

“It’s not shameful or...bad to accept help,” Sophie said after a moment. 

“My grandfather learned to get this under control.” Dodgson continued. “So did my father. I’m sure I can.” 

“Do you think they did it alone?” Sophie gently prodded. Dodgson hesitated. “I have a proposition - and just a proposition, it’s not going to affect you here if you chose to not take it. Take time off - a month, maybe - and switch to a more intensive plan in an inpatient setting.”

“What good would that do?” Dodgson said, but he hadn’t left yet. 

“Sometimes we need to remove ourselves from distractions to figure out the root cause. Your files mentioned these panic attacks seem to come at random?” 

“Yes.” Dodgson, seemingly coming to a decision, circled in front of the chair and sat down. He sat forward, ready to bolt, but it was an improvement. “Are you saying this might help figure out why?” 

“It might. It certainly has a higher chance than quitting now.” Sophie said gently. “You are making progress, even though it doesn’t seem like it yet.” 

“...I’ll need to make some phone calls.” Dodgson finally said. “Get a replacement to take over while I’m gone. When would this start?” 

“At most a week from today if you’d like,” Sophie said. “Would you like me to get that process started?” 

Dodgson was silent before he sagged back in the chair. 

“Yeah.” He said. “Yeah, go ahead.” 

“Hello, Mr. Dodgson?” Nate said, offering his hand to the man. 

“Mr. Meeker. Thanks for coming out on such short notice.” Dodgson said. “And with such a low bid.” 

“It’s no problem,” Nate said. “Kind of goes with the territory. So you mentioned around a month?” 

“Yes, that’s about right. It might be slightly longer, will that be a problem?” Nate shook his head. 

“Not at all.” He took the offered key and book. “I hope the time off is enjoyable.” 

“Thanks,” Dodgson said. “I’ll...get going. Mr. Liddell can answer questions in my absence.” Dodgson turned and left and the crew, minus Sophie (still playing her therapist role) assembled behind Nate. 

“Let’s steal a factory,” Nate said, and the con was set. 

“What can you remember about your panic attacks?” They had finished the intake paperwork, and now Sophie was trying to get a baseline. It was the second to last day before he’d be heading to the facility. “It doesn’t matter if they seem to be random - anything about them can help find a pattern or trigger.” 

“I’m not...entirely sure,” Dodgson said. He was tense in the chair. 

“How about we start with the last one you had?” Sophie suggested. “Your file says you were at home?” 

“Yeah,” Dodgson said. “I was in the kitchen...I was doing the dishes. I think I was looking out the window.” 

“Tell me about the view?” Sophie suggested. 

“Well, it looks out onto some trees. And the road.” Dodgson answered, slowly relaxing into the chair. “There’s a flowerbed - it was there as long as I could remember. I think my mom planted it.” 

“What was she like?” Sophie asked. 

“She was...kind. My dad...ran our company like it was made of machines. She’s the one who taught me about the people in it.” He said. Sophie didn’t interrupt the silence that fell. “I...think I forgot that.” He admitted softly. 

“How’s it going, Parker?” Nate asked. He was looking over the files and orders for the company. 

“Well, there’s an entire section that’s been closed down for years - also around the time of the crash. Hardison’s looking through the footage of the area. Other than that...nothing, besides the firings.” 

“Keep looking, I’m guessing we’ll find something there,” Nate said. “Hardison? Anything yet in the footage?” 

“Not yet, but I’m almost to the point where things changed. I’ll let you know when I have something.” Hardison said.

“Alright. Eliot? How’s it going?” 

“We managed to fix a few machines that had fallen into disrepair and get them up and running. Should help with some of the issues in supply. It’d be good if we could get a few more people who know how to run them.” 

“I’ll make some calls,” Nate said. “Sophie?” 

“I think he had a breakthrough today,” Sophie said. Dodgson was headed to the inpatient facility at the moment. Sophie would be having weekly meetings with Dodgson but otherwise, he would be on his own. “You remember yesterday - what I mentioned about his father? He seemed to realize some of what his actions had caused. Even if that’s all we get...I think that’s a huge win.” 

“Well, we’ll see in a month, won’t we?” Nate said.

“I suppose we will,” Sophie said. 

“I like this plan much better than the White Rabbit.” Parker, taking a break from the search, said to Hardison. She was perched on the counter, munching on a pop tart. 

“So do I.” Hardison agreed. “I mean, we’re still messing with his head, but it’s not...forcing it. More like nudging it along with what he already has going.” 

“Yeah.” Eliot dropped into the chair next to him. Parker hopped onto the table a few moments later. The three of them were rarely seen apart at times like this. He took his comm off for the moment, and Hardison muted theirs on a hunch. “Nate was going to tread dangerously close to playing God. I’ve seen some of the attempts at the White Rabbit. At best...people end up scarred for the rest of their lives. At worst...people have died. By others' hands or their own.” 

“Did Nate know that?” Parker asked quietly. 

“I don’t know,” Elliot admitted. “Sophie would have though. She was one of the people who ran it where it failed. She was the closest to it succeeding but it still failed.” 

“How do you know that?” Hardison asked curiously. 

“It brushed up against one of my assignments,” Eliot answered. “We weren’t even involved and it still screwed things up with us for a bit. It’s not done for good reason.” 

“I’m glad we didn’t do it, then.” Hardison agreed firmly. The others didn’t disagree and Hardison unmuted their comms a moment later. 

“So my panic attacks are because I didn’t pick up the phone.” Dodgson said slowly. “When my cousin called.” 

“Yes.” The therapist (not Sophie) said. “Does that sound right to you?” 

“...Yeah.” Dodgson wasn’t looking at him. “I...I should have answered. I should have known.” 

“Charles, how could you have known?” The therapist pointed out gently. “It’s not your fault what happened. You’re not responsible.” 

A week and a month after he had gone to inpatient, Dodgson walked back into the factory and everyone there could see _something_ was different. He made a beeline to Edith, who stared at him with no small amount of dread. 

“I am so sorry.” He told Edith. She was clearly surprised. “How long were you gone?” 

“Two weeks.” She answered. 

“I’ll be giving you back pay. We’re going to get this place back to how it was in it’s prime.” He promised her. He turned to face the rest of the workers, who had gathered. “I’d like to make an announcement and an apology. I messed up.” He paused for a moment. “When I took over, well, I wanted to do a lot....And I kind of lost sight of that. And I hurt - I hurt all of you. I'm truly sorry for that.” He gave a regretful smile. “Believe me, if I could go back in time and change it, I would.” There were a few cautious smiles in response. “I’d like to announce that, starting officially in a week, we’ll be partnering with Aurinko Motors. They’re building electric cars, and...one of our old projects will be just the thing for the job. This is the Finns, everyone.” The newcomers each gave a polite smile and nod. 

Dodgson hesitated for a moment, but took a deep breath and something seemed to settle. “If everyone will follow me?” 

The group followed Dodgson to the padlocked door, and, no hesitation now, Dodgson cut open the lock. He led them in, turning on the lights and came to a stop at the development table. “This battery is just the answer for the need. And we’re gonna need a lot more hands around here.” 

A resounding cheer came up from the employees. Charles looked across the warehouse to see a group of five watching him. The blonde caused his breath to catch - and she smiled, proudly. 

She wasn’t Patience but - 

He swore he heard her - Patience - whisper anyways.  _ “I forgive you. Even though I never blamed you anyways....Go, Charles. Go dream.”  _

“We sort of did pull off the White Rabbit.” Nate mused as they walked out. 

“What do you mean?” Parker asked. 

“The White Rabbit, it’s about taking the truth, what's underneath, and-and-and bringing it out, right?” Sophie said. “We did it without breaking him. Or us.” 

“And without drugging him.” Eliot added. “He needed therapy. Not a con...and we were able to provide that.” 

“It would have been too close to playing God otherwise.” Hardison added. Parker, in between the two boys, nodded. 

Nate conceded the point with a tilt of his head. 

“I guess I do need to be reminded I’m human sometimes.” He agreed. 

**Author's Note:**

> The bit with Patience...ghost? is a little ooc to me but I felt like it was important for closure for him, so I left it. I hope this lived up to expectations and does justice to the fix it concept.


End file.
